Vaccination

General or Other | General Practice | Vaccination (Disease)


Description

Vaccination or immunization is one way of prevention against infectious diseases. The vaccine is a preparation that contains viral or microbial antigens (inactivated or live attenuated), which once introduced into the body activate the immune system to make antibodies that will protect the body against the infection.

One of the most common viral diseases in winter is flu, a viral infection apparently trivial but can be accompanied by numerous complications. It is therefore prudent to carry out prevention by vaccination in people at risk: elderly (65 years), children (over 6 months), chronic patients (pulmonary or cardiovascular diseases, metabolic), women with increased risk of contact infection and in the second and third quarter (not in the first trimester of pregnancy) or medical staff working in communities of children and care institutions (nurseries, kindergartens, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, clinics, etc. . ) and those who want to protect themselves.

The ideal time for vaccination is in autumn (October-December). Production of antibodies occurs over several weeks, influenza vaccination ensuring protection for at least six months, which covers the cold season from October to March. But if vaccination is not made during fall, it can be made at the beginning of a flu epidemic. It is good to know that influenza virus is found in a variety of forms and has a great capacity to change from year to year. This means that even though you are vaccinated, you may contract another type of flu virus, but you will make it much easier through the disease if you are vaccinated.

Possible side effects after vaccination are: local reactions brief injection site pain, redness, itching; rarely systemic reactions: fever, chills, headache, myalgia, vomiting, all of which are of short duration (1-2 days) and are minor compared to possible complications of influenza infection. Influenza vaccines are contraindicated during the acute febrile diseases in case of allergy to substances components (especially egg). ...